Fire Emblem Awakening Alternative
by theguyacrossthetable
Summary: Story about if Robin kept his memories after his confrontation with Grima shortly before he met the Shepherds. Robin might be slightly OOC. Henry will show up later in the story. Enjoy!
1. Prologue 1: An Unexpected Encounter

**Fire Emblem Awakening Alternative**

(((Author's note: Hello! I hope you enjoy this fan fiction. Feel free to criticize and give any tips if you want. This story is going to be rated MA for the slight gore later. Enjoy.))

**Prologue 1: An Unexpected Encounter **(Prologue 1: An Unexpected Encounter)

The sun had already begun to set nearly signaling night time to begin, stars scattered across the sky. Their light mixed with the sun's glazing over the sea of green grass in a mixture scarlet and dark navy blue. There was only one distinguishable tree laid off in the distance, its branches spread out and were abundant in leaves. Soon the sun would completely cross the horizon and the only light source would be from the stars. There was no visible path towards any town. Robin was in the middle of nowhere. However, he was not lost. His destination was Southtown. Robin quickly paced towards the direction of a nearby dirt road he knew of. He doesn't intend to set up camp out there in the rolling plains. He'd sleep at an inn in Southtown, and in the following morning set out for Ylisstol. There he would request the Exalt of Ylisse, Emmeryn, assistance for his plan or rather to be more specific a dream. She'd likely deny his request but it was a start for him.

'_A rather stupid start at that.' _Robin thought so indeed. Being a veteran tactician, one would think he'd have a plan already made in order to achieve his goal, but he had spent most of his life wandering around Ylisse growing stronger through fighting off brigands using his strategies to help the local villagers. It was all of course in preparation for his 'grand master plan'… Of which he had yet to devise…

'_It's probably going to be a waste of time. I should just head towards Plegia. Still though… it's worth a shot right?' _Robin gazed at the stars in the sky as he wondered what he would do next. The sun was no longer present and chirping crickets could be heard.

'_Plegia is probably going to be dangerous, that much is clear. With the Mad King, Gangrel, leading them nothing good can come to pass. He's already adding tension between Ylisse and Plegia by having 'random' bands of brigands attack innocent towns. War will certainly break out at one point… Maybe I can use that to my advantage… No Robin, don't just selfishly use people like that. The Hero-King wouldn't do that! I have to do something before the tension snaps and all hell breaks loose.' _Wrapped in thoughts, Robin continued heading towards the dirt road. Due to his wandering around Ylisse, he was able to memorize the landscape; he had no need of established roads. In this case though, the dirt road just so happens to be directly on his line of path to Southtown. Robin let out a large yawn and cupped his mouth a couple of times with his hand.

"Darn looks like I'm getting tired. I guess I can sleep here then." Devoid of clouds, Robin had a perfect view of the starry sky as he lay on the ground. He rested his head on top of his crossed arms. His eyes soon began to blur as he quietly headed to sleep.

In the midst of his slumber, Robin felt it. He felt like he was being watched. Yes… Someone was definitely staring at him, he knew it. He opened his eyes and took in the stars in the sky again… After he determined where the stare may be coming from, he turned his head towards the source of it. He did so slowly as to not alarm the stalker.

'_What the hell… talk about creepy…'_

Off in the distance, Robin could barely see the figure. Had there been clouds to cover the sky, Robin would not have been able to spot the stalker easily. He could definitely feel the stranger's diabolic aura it emanated. It was definitely heading towards Robin's direction. Robin has had his fair share of creepiness out in his wandering, but this definitely takes the cake. Robin couldn't help but feel that the stalker knew that Robin was aware of his presence. It purposely headed at Robin slowly making his heart beat fast. As the figure came closer, Robin was able to see it was wearing a purple coat… The very same coat Robin was currently wearing…

'_Ok that's it. If I let this continue to happen my heart will finally stop out of sheer horror.' _

Robin slid his hand slowly into his coat as he grabbed his Thoron tome. His other hand, meanwhile, moved carefully in the grass and aimed itself towards the approaching figure. He waited patiently until the figure had reached close enough so that his aim would be perfect. Usually when a person uses magic, they have wait for awhile before the attack is made, during this wait time, circles filled with patterns would appear near the tome and they would glow. In the dark this could be fatal as an enemy can notice where you are at. However, Robin was a proficient magic user, specifically the lightning kind. There wouldn't be any lag. So once his target came into range, Robin let loose his Thoron attack.

"TAKE THIS!" A spear of pure electricity zipped through the air lighting the darkness as it struck its target. A large crackling sound of popping electricity signaled that the Thoron attack had hit something. Robin had his eyes closed as to not temporary blind himself with the sudden burst of light. After hearing Thoron strike he got on his feet and gazed towards where the figure was standing. Thoron indeed struck its intended target, however… the figure still stood there as though nothing had happened.

"What the… Ho-."

"Hehehehehe…" A quiet baleful chuckle broke off Robin's dialogue, "I wasn't expecting that at all. That was certainly a good surprise you gave me there Robin. Here I was thinking I could get you in your sleep, but I suppose us tacticians often need to be on our toes all the time. How we do it in our sleep must be an enigma to others… ammarite? Hehehehe."

"Who are you?"

"Me? Oh, just another fellow tactician wandering about. I truly mean no harm. You don't have to be so opposed to me now. Look at yourself, are you so eager to kill me?"

"How do you explain that coat of yours?"

"This coat? Oh! That's right! We're both wearing the same clothes! Ahahaha! How humorous… As you can see… my coat is a standard Plegian Tactician Uniform."

"Ok, so maybe it's just sheer coincidence that you, a tactician, just so happens to be wearing a long discontinued model coat."

"It's discontinued? Aw I really love this uniform so I was thinking about getting more to give to my little happy friends. Oh well, it's seems like you are fully aware of the situati-."

"But how do you explain knowing my name?"

"…"

Robin continued to glare at the silent tactician until finally, "Jeeeeez fine!" The figure, its cowl covering its head, raised its hands in surrender and slowly spoke, "You got me… You got me… Proud of yourself? I sure am. Hehehehe."

"Answer my question."

"Bleh… I suppose I might as well reveal who I am… It's surprising that you haven't discerned my identity you know…"

"What?"

"After all if you listen closely to my voice you'd realiz-."

"They're…. They're the SAME." Robin was shocked at his epiphany. As he stood there dumbfounded, the figure continued speaking, "Bingo. Looks like you are finally fully aware of what is happening and what will soon follow." Upon saying this, the malefic man lowered his cowl, revealing his face. The white-haired male's face was an exact copy of Robin's however there was slight difference in his eyes that almost seemed to exude pure malice. Robin was once more surprised at this spectacle. "Hehehehe! Look at you! So shocked! Stop please. You'll kill my sides." Deviously grinning as he mocked Robin, the mirror image soon pulled out a dark purple tome, that had embossed the insignia of the Fell Beast, from his coat, "Now now cut that out. I've had enough of this tomfoolery. I did say 'what will soon follow' didn't I?"

Robin snapped out of his shock and realized what his mirror was going to do. The copy immediately waved its hand as the pages of the purple tome suddenly turned rapidly. A shrill screech carved into the silence as the space around Robin's immediate vicinity seemed to tense up and warp feverishly. Robin leaped back, tripping out of fear, and landed on his rear. Just as he did, the screeching seized and suddenly the space that Robin had distanced himself from snapped and a gush of red-velvet and dark purple light filled the area. BOOM! The explosion propelled Robin from his sitting position and blew him back away from the hostile copy.

"I'm actually glad you avoided that. Hehehehe! A direct hit with Grima's Truth would've definitely killed you on the spot. I need you alive so try not to die, ok? Mwahahaha!" The figure now fully engrossed itself into the terror it was inflicting on Robin. Robin got back up and proceeded to flee. His mirror encouraged his cowardice, "Run little white boy! RUN! MWAHAHA!" As he laughed in utter ecstasy, he continued using Grima's Truth. BOOM! BOOM! Explosion after explosion, Robin was able to dodge each attack narrowly. Pot holes that were left behind by Grima's truth formed a curly line, tracing Robin's fleeing.

'_Gods… I can't just keep doing this… I have to fight back. I must.' _Robin slowed down and, using his Thoron, countered by shooting multiple spears of electricity back at the other Robin. Because he was quite shaken up from what had been happening, all of his strikes failed to land there target, but they strike in front of their target's path, halting it.

"Hooh… Getting feisty eh? Fine have at it foolish tactician." The mirror Robin used Grima's Truth again but instead of the explosions it had previously detonated, the book caused five ominous violet lights to appear on the ground near the caster. Soon vile liquid oozed out, covering the light, and took form of hideous creatures whose heads were draped by brown leather material. Their red eyes beamed towards Robin. With snap of the malefic Robin fingers, the demons slid their way towards their target, "Hmm that's odd. These peons aren't that stable. Oh well. I guess time travel has deteriorated my power a bit. I'll just head back to my grave when I'm done here."

Robin couldn't hear all of his mirror's words but he did catch him saying time travel. Robin muttered to himself, "Time travel?" _'Hmmm interesting… Ah! I have to focus here.' _ Regaining his composure, Robin prepared for battle.

The five creatures' bodies looked to Robin, as though they were falling slowly apart. Despite this, _'Better not underestimate their RESistance… I've used Thoron a tad too much right now… I'll resort to my Silver Sword.' _Looking over to his other self, Robin could not discern the Grima's Truth wielder's combat prowess. _'Damn… I can't hide anywhere… I could try to use the fight with those monsters to somehow try to flee… no that's not possible this guy won't be fooled easily… Grima's Truth… where did he get such a tome? No the real question is why he LOOKS like me. I have to fight here… I need to know why.' _ Robin slowly approached the band of gurgling demons as they made their way to him. Robin let them have the first try at attacking. Their arms were surprisingly human-like up until their claws. Getting hit by those would definitely be near fatal. However, the monsters' high STRength seemed to come at a cost for a pathetically low SKILL. This played directly into Robin's hand as he dodged their swings with ease.

"My turn!" Robin used his Silver Sword to slash at one of the monsters and was able to kill it in one hit, a Critical Hit. There seemed to be some lag between the creatures' attacks, this was likely due to their elastic bodies not able to handle the fierce swings of their solid arms. They were in the process of lugging themselves back into stationary position. Robin used this lag to attack another fiend, hacking at its spine. Another kill. The three remaining monsters initiated their attack once more. Robin fluidly dodged their swings. He proceeded to take out another two of the monsters, leaving one still mobile. It was yet another repetition of dodging and Robin finished of the last creature. Fortunately dealing the band of hostile forces were nowhere near enough to tire Robin out.

"Nicely done Robin mi'boy!" Robin's mirror had been watching the following battle take place and congratulated the tactician following up with a brief round of applause, "I'll admit those servants were a tad too easy for you. So I guess it's no surprise you came out on top! Hehehehe!"

Robin burst out into anger as he asked his reflection, "WHO ARE YOU!?"

"Manners Robin! Do you not use them!? Hehehe! Just because your life was on the line just now, doesn't mean you can get angry at the culprit. No wait… Hehehe! Of course you can but what fun is it to just anger others? Ok I'll admit it does have its unique form of amusement… but I'd rather cause others to wince in utter pain at threshold of death! MWAHAH-… Oh wait sorry I digressed there, now then… Regarding your question, I would answer 'I am Robin' but that wouldn't cut it huh? Besides, I stopped being Robin many years ago… no, that's not quite right… I stopped being Robin a couple of years from now I believe…"

"…" Robin listened carefully to his ranting reflection.

"Did I say couple of years from now? Oh yes I did… Time travel, what are you going to do about it? Hehehehe. Don't worry I'm not digressing. This stupid rant of mine is leading up to where I make the dramatic reveal! Here it is!"

"…"

"I'm you! From the future! Mwahahaha!"

"Wha…"

"Oops I did it again! Hahaha! I'm not actually you, but rather I am Grima possessing your body!"

"WHAT?!" Just when things couldn't get any more surprising, his reflection… No Grima made his big reveal.

"Enough with the utterances of dismay… I think I've wasted enough time with this cheery conversation… Now the-."

Before Grima could do anything, Robin yelled out, "ARRRRRRRGHH!"

"Wait, what?" As the dumbfounded Grima said so, Robin, using his Silver Sword, swiftly swung at Grima. The sword carved the air it went through making a slight whistling noise.

"Urk!" Grima let out a slight noise of pain, Robin's Silver Sword dug deeply into his arm. Not allowing Grima to regain its composure, Robin charged his arm ramming Grima's chest. Grima fell to the ground with Grima's Truth flying out of his hand, the Silver Sword that was in his arm slid off as it was still being wielded by Robin. Blood sprayed out furiously from the open wound, quickly painting the grass in deep red. Robin rammed his Silver Sword straight through Grima's chest, after doing so Robin began to twist the weapon around as if to shred Grima's heart, "GAH!" Blood was pouring from Grima's back, forming a pool at the area underneath him. Robin then thrust the sword stuck in Grima's chest into the ground, pinning the look alike. Robin grabbed a hold of Thoron as he feverishly casted as many spears of electricity as he can and shot them all down onto the pinned Grima. Robin let out a wild roar, "YEAARGH!" Several snaps and crackles boomed as the spears of light directly hit their target. A humongous flash illuminated the scene as though it were already sunny out. Thoron fell into pieces from overuse. After the light faded, Robin looked to see if his target was dead. His Silver Sword had been decimated by the deluge of light. However, Grima's body was not there, "No… Where… Where is he-." Robin's conscious then went blank.

I slowly regained consciousness, my eye lids were taking their sweet time opening up. As I wondered what was going on I felt a couple of light slaps hit my cheek.

"Come on wake up idiot." I heard a voice similar to mine.

"Huh?" My eyes were wide open now.

"There you go."

"YOU!" Of course the first thing to enter my vision was Grima smiling at me. I immediately started a fit. I tried to reach out my hands towards my reflection's neck, however I soon realized that I couldn't move my body.

"Nice to see you again too! Hehehehe!"

"AGH! What the hell is going on?!" The sight of Grima smiling was infuriating. If only I could move…

"Relax I won't be here long."

"Huh?"

"I said wake up right?" I did indeed hear him say that, however I refuse to respond to him, "…"

"Well it was wrong of me to say that. You're technically still out cold. You should have seen it. When I merged with you, you started screaming in pain. It was a delectable sight. You tried moving around still heading to the dirt path. What an intense struggle! Gods! It was like you were having an epileptic seizure. Just perfect. You managed to reach the dirt road and collapsed. Good thing you didn't fall face first, otherwise you'd be mouthing in dirt. Hehehe."

I looked around, taking in my surroundings, so this was my conscious? All I could see was black and more black, absolute nothingness. Grima circled around me, his steps sounding like he was walking on marble (This is odd considering that it seemed like we were floating in midair). I managed to calm down from my brief rage as I tell him, "You said you wouldn't stay long?"

"Yes. It would seem that your heart is not ready for godhood."

"Godhood?"

"Yes. You and I are to become one. Upon doing so I would finally attain a power of a god!" Huh… That's right I carry the Mark of the Fell Beast on my right hand. I did expect that I would one day confront Grima but not the way I did at the rolling plains, "Yeah… that's right…"

"Oh? So you are already aware of this?"

"Yes." What a stupid question, why wouldn't I know this? If he is from the future, then why does he treat me like it's his first time meeting me?

"Ooo. That's interesting… the other Robin didn't have any knowledge of his birth right at first." Grima drops a bomb… Aren't the Other Robin and I the same person? I respond to Grima, "Well I'm not that other Robin."

"Indeed! It would seem you have memories… yes, that's right… The other Robin was an amnesiac…" An amnesiac? What is Grima talking about? Ah. That must be the reason why he is treating me like so. That other Robin had no memories.

"Oh that reminds me, back there at the rolling plains. I must say you thoroughly sent me into shock. I've always lived with every mortal fearing my name, other than one of those heroic warriors that popped out every now and then. You really had me there! If I was some silly human, I would've died a horrible gruesome death!" I recalled my previous actions before my conscious went out. I certainly was blood lusting back there.

"Good gods! Hahaha! My name sent you into a frenzy."

"Of course it did."

"Why is that? Did I do something to you beforehand, because I can't recall for the life of me."

"In a way yes… it was indirectly though."

"Ah I see. Well that is very much intri-." Despicable… why was he purposely talking to me in such a civil manner?

I break off his friendly banter, "Don't talk to me like I'm your friend, Fell Beast. You are the last entity I would have a cup of tea with."

"…"

"And you should watch out for me… All these years… I thought I never would make any progress but now… My drive has only been further spurred from this encounter of ours!"

"…"

Grima stood silent as I told him my purpose in life, "You're going to leave right? Let me tell you this… I'll look for you… I don't care how long I have to look… I'll keep looking… You can run all you like but it'll be futile… One way or another I will see to it that you face utter demise! I'll be there to watch you contort in complete pain as I swiftly dispose of you! This time I'll be the one hunting!"

"…" Grima stayed silent for awhile and then spoke, "…Troublesome…"

Huh? Having heard my clear declaration of war, Grima was surprisingly calm, but why?

"I see now… You'll definitely be a thorn in my path. It's hard to think that the other Robin may have been like this…"

"What are you talking about-." Grima cuts me off, "In order to secure my future it seems I will have to erase your memories…"

No… not my memories… can Grima really do that?

Seeing through my worries clearly etched on my face Grima responded, "Hehehe. I'll have my way in the end. Fate will see to that…"

Grima stopped pacing around me as he reached his hand to my heart… No… STOP! NO ANYTHING BUT THAT! I wanted to yell those words but I couldn't… I silently watch him reach into me and attempt to crush something.

Resist! I must… resist! A sharp pain, "Urraaargh…"

Damn it! No! This can't… be happening…

Grima took his hand out of me and smiled at me, "Well see ya."

He then disappeared. He had won… My mind started to grow numb as my vision blurred slowly…

I uttered depressingly, "Gods… oh gods please… I don't want to forget…"

I couldn't hold on and everything went black…

…

I felt multiple memories fill me… the visions weren't anything I had ever seen… they were events that had yet to come… Many faces of people I've yet to meet blazed past my conscious… One of the memories seemed to dominate my mind I could feel a malefic vibe come from the memory… A premonition? The memory began to overtake me… However just as it was about to completely absorb me, it suddenly stopped…

…

The memory soon lost its strength and returned with the other new memories… Was it important? Probably not… After confirming that the memory had seized its attempt to overwhelm me, as per nightly routine, I allowed myself experience a replay of my childhood past…

Prologue 1 End

14 Page


	2. Prologue 2: Verge of a New History

**Fire Emblem Awakening Alternative**

**Prologue 2: Verge of a New History **(Prologue 2: Verge of a New History)

"Chrom, we have to do something…" As Robin's conscious started to slowly re-surface, he heard a girl's voice.

'_Am I… dead? No wait… she said Chrom right?'_

"And what do you propose we do?" Another voice… this time of a male's… presumably Chrom from the way it immediately replied to the girl's remark.

Finally Robin was beginning to move his body again. Opening his eyes, sun beamed onto them causing him to wince slightly as he motioned his hand to block the light.

"Well you're finally awake now," The blue-haired male spoke up, relieved to see Robin finally waking up.

"Hi there," The blond girl gave a small lady-like smile as she addressed Robin. Robin however was still a bit groggy. He was remembering how he got on the dirt path. Grima had been the reason he had collapsed here.

"You know there are better places to take a nap on then on the floor. Here give me your hand." The blue-haired young man gave a smile as he reached out to Robin. Robin, accepting his offer, grabbed a hold of the hand before him and was hoisted up.

"Thanks, Chrom." Robin, now nearly fully awakened, gave thanks for Chrom helping him up.

"How do you know my name?" Chrom's curiosity was sparked slightly at having no memory of meeting this white-haired person before him who knew his name, however…

"Hahaha. Come now… Who doesn't know the name of the prince of Ylisse around these parts?" Robin chuckled a bit.

It seemed Chrom had forgotten about his placing in royalty, "Right… I sometimes forget that I'm a prince in the first place."

"I can see that… Oops, forgive me your highness. I shouldn't speak so directly with yo-"

"Whoa whoa, stick with Chrom, I rather not have my title affect how people treat me."

"Very well then Chrom… Ah… and you must be… Lissa, no?" Robin turned to the young cleric as she affirmed his guess, "Right! I'm Lissa! Nice to meet you!"

"The feeling is mutual." Again Robin turned again but this time to the pale blue armored Great Knight who stood behind the royal siblings, arms crossed, "Frederick the wary huh? You really do look stern as people have portrayed you."

The brownish-black haired man spoke, "Yes, I am Frederick. I serve under the house of Ylisse in order to ensure the safety of its heirs."

"Sounds tough."

"But before we continue this conversation, might you give us your name, good stranger." Frederick's cautious eyes did not seem to falter as they carefully examined Robin.

"Ah of course, my name is Robin, a pleasure to meet you Shepherds."

Chrom spoke up again, "You know about the Shepherds too? We mostly defend the land against small brigand raids. But despite that we aren't a huge militant force. We're nowhere near as big as the army of the previous exalt."

Robin continued on, responding to Chrom, "I've been wandering around Ylisse seeking out brigands as they raid villages, so of course I did eventually find out about the Shepherds."

Chrom was genuinely surprised, "You took on brigands by yourself?"

"By myself." Robin gave a proud smirk.

"Impressive."

"That being said… I'm actually on my way to Ylisstol to rest up there…" _'Not to mention I need to buy another Thoron and Silver Sword.' _

"Well what a coincidence. We're on our way back to Ylisstol as well."

Frederick interjected before Chrom could offer that Robin join with them back to Ylisstol, "Ahem sire, do you think it wise to bring someone we just met on our trek back home?"

Chrom with a sort of 'not this again' tone, "Come on Frederick, this guy has been defending Ylissean villages from bandits…"

"Do you think we can take that to be the truth? The man is traveling alone. I doubt that he can take a full group of bandits single-handedly."

Robin, starting to feel awkward as the prince and his guard seemed to argue a bit, "Haha it's alright Chrom, Frederick is just fulfilling his duty." Frederick stayed silent at hearing Robin's supportive words, Robin continued, "At the very least we can head together towards Southtown, it's not that long from here actually."

"Is that alright Frederick?" Chrom gave piercing stare towards Frederick.

"That shouldn't be a problem sire." Frederick closed his eyes as he responded.

"Well then… let's go." Chrom with a grin led the group towards Southtown.

Along the way the group made small talk, mostly about how nice donuts were (actually it was Lissa who mostly led the conversation in that aspect), as they headed down the dirt path.

Lissa curious if Robin was some master swordsman or something of that natured asked suddenly, "Soooo Robin how do you fight the bad guys?"

"Huh? Ah well I use these…" Robin didn't have his Silver Sword and Thoron as the two were destroyed back when he narrowly survived Grima. But he wouldn't tell the three of his confrontation with the Fell Beast for obvious reasons. He pulled out a spare Bronze Sword and Thunder tome. "Though I'm not the best at swordsmanship, I can certainly hold my own in close combat. I'm fairly competent at using magic too…"

"Whoah… That's so cool. I want to use magic as well, but my stupid brother won't let me go into combat, so I'm stuck being a cleric." Lissa pouted a bit as she pointed towards Chrom.

Chrom raised both of his hands up and waved them as to ward off the negativity, "Hahaha don't listen to her, she's pretty delicate so I can't have her in the direct heat of battle. You know how it is Robin."

"I AM NOT DELICATE." Lissa quickly yelled out in frustration.

Robin couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Hahahaha! It's ok Lissa. You'll earn your way. Clerics do become Sages if they are worthy enough. So keep at it!"

Lissa gave an energetic 'yup' as she raised her Heal staff proudly, "I'll definitely make it!"

"Haha… Hey now Robin, no need to raise her hopes u-"

Suddenly Lissa interrupted her brother, "CHROM!" She pointed towards Southtown, there were long towers of smoke expelling from the village.

"Southtown!" Robin was the first to act as he immediately sprinted at full force towards the burning village.

"Robin, wait!" Chrom called out towards Robin, however Robin was already about to enter town, "Come Frederick and Lissa, we have to help him!"

"Of course sire." "Come on! Come on! Let's go!" The trio headed towards town.

A group of bandits indeed had invaded town. They were holding up innocents inside a church. "Help!" A young woman let out a yell to try to attract the attention of anyone who might save them. "Shut up!" What was presumably the leader of the bandits had yelled to shut the girl up. The woman winced as the leader gave out a loud laugh, "GAHAHAHA! Make sure to get every ounce of gold this town has to offer boys! Meat too! Yum lots of it! And take any virgins you want! GAHAHA!"

Robin had finally reached into the town square where the brigands seemed to be located at. It seemed the brigands consisted of four Barbarians, three myrmidons, and two mages. _'Did these Plegians come because of me? Wait… They aren't Grimleal from the looks of it… Another random group of Plegian bandits, huh? Well they don't seem very capable, I can take them all even with my low-grade equipment… I'll start off with those Barbarians; their RESistance is a joke to my MAGic.' _

Just as Robin was about to make his move… "Robin! Hold up!" Chrom came rushing to Robin alongside Frederick and Lissa.

Robin quickly apologized for abandoning the group, "Ah, sorry about leaving you guys like that."

Chrom quickly put his hand up, "No harm done. Anyways, let's make quick work of these bandits."

"Of course!" With that affirmation from Robin, the group went into battle.

"Remember Robin, we face trained bandits. If we're not careful they'll have their way." Frederick, the first to speak up, pointed out that they couldn't merely charge into battle without a plan.

Robin pointed his finger proudly into the air, "Don't worry about Frederick. I didn't get the chance to say but my forte is tactics!"

"Tactics?" Chrom's curiosity was piqued at Robin's words.

"Yes. I didn't get by fighting the brigands with sheer power alone."

"Then if you could, lead our blades Robin."

"Sire is that wi-" Frederick being wary as always is cut short of dialogue by Chrom, "People are going to die if we don't act efficiently. Robin leads us Frederick."

"Very well."

"Ok Robin, show us what you are capable of." Chrom gave a quick nod to Robin who returned the gesture, "Alright. Let's do this!"

Looking at battle experience, Frederick was above Chrom and Lissa. Due to being a Great Knight, a special Class, Frederick managed to barely trump Robin as well. _'Let's try to get Chrom some more experience.' _Three of the Barbarians were in a group near Robin and the others, the nearest one just within Chrom's reach. Since Barbarians can only wield axes, Chrom would have the weapon advantage of using a sword. Of course should anything happen, Lissa would be the one to heal Chrom. "Frederick, stay near Chrom as he fights the barbarians, and support him as he needs it." Frederick, now on atop of his horse accompanied Chrom as he went to face off with the Barbarian. "Lissa just stay as far as possible from the combat but close enough to rush to Chrom's side so you can heal him should he need it." Lissa gave a salute, "ROGER THAT!"

'_In the meantime I should get to those two mages and dispatch them before they work their MAGic on Chrom's low RESistance.' _ Robin stayed a bit away from the Barbarians so that they would target Chrom as to allow Chrom to gain more combat experience. The two mages located Robin and laid their sights on him.

Chrom attacked the Barbarian landing a strike with his Falchion; however he did not eliminate him. The Barbarian flinched as it was attacked and attempted to return a blow with his axe, failing in the process as Chrom easily stepped aside from the swing.

Now it was time for the bandits to make their move, the Barbarian that Chrom had attacked once again attempted to strike his highness down. Frederick rushed in and narrowly deflected the Barbarian's axe, "You'll have to try harder than that brigand!" Chrom immediately leaped towards the Barbarian and slashed vertically, dispatching him. The two Barbarians saw their ally fall and immediately charged at Chrom. Double-teaming him the Barbarians sought to confuse him as they both swung their axes. Chrom was able to avoid contact with two blades and managed to fell one of the Barbarians with just one strike. However as he defeated one of the barbarians, the second one took the opportunity and managed to land a blow at Chrom, "Ergh!" Frederick immediately lunged at the now happy Barbarian as he cleanly drove his Silver Lance straight through the Barbarian's chest. Lissa, as per Robin's orders, came up to Chrom and healed him fully; the damage he had taken was not severe. "Thanks sis." "No prob bro."

Robin came up to the trio, "How is your end going?"

Chrom replied, "We're doing well. And you?"

"No need to worry about the mages here." Robin had eliminated the two mages and a single myrmidon, who thought he was going to get the drop on Robin, without having to move much physically. It was obvious to Chrom that Robin's magic was far from 'competent'.

"That only leaves three enemy units, right?" Chrom had asked.

"Right Chrom. Two myrmidons and the Barbarian leader… With, you, and I, we can easily overpower the lot of them."

"Got it! Let's go!"

The trio headed directly towards the bandits. Frederick fell one of the myrmidons with one plunge of his lance, Robin used his thunder tome to distract the myrmidon from attacking Chrom and was killed by Falchion's edge.

"Gah! Damn! I won't let you take me down that easily!" The leader letting out a roar prepped his hand axe for battle.

"Really now… surely you see how utterly hopeless this is right?" As Robin began to speak, the furious leader began to charge at him. Robin uttered an 'oh my' as he began to ruffle his hair a bit, "As much as I would love to be able to convince you to turn over a new leaf, already I see in your eyes lust for my head on a platter." The enraged Barbarian swung its Hand Axe vertically downward as it ran towards Robin. Robin easily side-stepped and his hand that was on his head moved towards the Barbarian's head. With only few inches separated his hand and the enemy's head, Robin cast Thunder. The Barbarian died a near painless death as his head took the full force of Thunder.

"Wow Robin… just… wow." Chrom could only utter several wows after having viewed Robin in combat, "I must admit that I did have some doubts when I heard you were taking on brigands all on your own but this battle just decimated all of that doubt now. I'm sure even if we weren't here, you could've handled this situation on your own." Lissa joined in on Chrom's praising, "Yeah like totally! That was awesome Robin!" Frederick then voiced his own word of approval, "I must admit even I was thoroughly shocked. I take back my remarks about you being able to fight the brigands on your own."

Robin, rather unused to being rained praises, spoke up, "No, I definitely would've had some issues regarding the safety of the people. I did say strategy was my forte, no? I usually had some of the able villagers fight alongside me."

"Well in any which case Robin, you've impressed… Actually…"

"Yes Chrom?"

"Why don't you join the Shepherds?"

"Me join you guys?"

"Yeah. So, how about it? Will you?"

"Hmm… Chrom if I may, can I think over this?"

"Of course, it was a bit rash of me to suddenly ask you to join us."

"Alright then I'll ponder over this." _'Interesting perhaps this may help me achieve my goal…' _Robin lost in thought was suddenly interrupted by one of the Southtown villagers.

"Thank you for saving our town milord!"

Chrom responded, "No problem."

"If it pleases him, would his royal highness stay for dinner at our inn?"

Lissa jumped immediately at the offer, "Ah heck yes! Do you serve don-." Only to be cut off by Frederick, "No thank you kind sir. We have to be on our way to Ylisstol so we must be going, the forest will provide for our needs."

"Awww come on Frederick, I'm starving." Lissa began pouting again.

"Haha. Do not worry milady I will be sure to fetch some big game at the forest." Frederick smiled as he said those words.

"I hate game…"

As Lissa complained to Frederick some more, Chrom approached Robin and asked, "So Robin, are you planning to head straight to Ylisstol or are you going to stay the night here in Southtown?"

Robin quickly responded, "Straight to Ylisstol." Robin never stayed at villages long so Chrom's question was an easy one.

"Ah if that's the case why don't you continue to travel with us towards there?" Chrom glared at Frederick to which the Great Knight responded, "Why do you stare at me so sire? I would NEVER object to allowing Robin to travel with us. It's not like I'm trying to protect you or anything."

Chrom sighed a bit at Frederick's obvious sarcasm before saying, "Then let's get going."

The sun was already near the horizon when the group left Southtown and by the time they reached the forest west of Ylisstol, the sky was adorned by countless stars…

Prologue 2 End


End file.
